Mayor Samran banned water trucks from using Luangporkluem Rd after a slew of complaints brought him to realise that the trucks’ round-the-clock activities had torn the small road apart. (See story here.)
However, the water trucks resumed using the road in full force yesterday, with one local resident reporting that 13 trucks were queued up for refilling at 8:30pm last night (May 13).
The concession to allow the the trucks to resume refilling their tankers at the site came after B400,00 baht was given to the municipality in order to help pay for repairs to the road, Mayor Samran told The Phuket News today (May 14).
“On Wednesday, I ordered the company to stop all deliveries until workers had repaired the road, but the very next day the owners pleaded to us that if they stopped the water deliveries, it would hurt their businesses and many people in hotels across the island would have no water,” Mayor Samran said.
“The lagoon owner and the water truck operators together and gave B400,000 to Chalong Municipality to repair the road, and for them to continue with their business.
“They said the water trucks would not be filled to the brim and would be driven very slowly in order to not damage the road any further,” Mayor Samran added.
“We have to compromise with everyone, the water truck operators, the lagoon owner and local residents. So we agreed to let them do their business, but within the conditions they have agreed to.
“Workers are on site to begin repairs to the road today (May 14). Hopefully the repairs will be complete within 10 days and by then we should have better road with a stronger concrete mix with some iron reinforcement,” he said.